R. Sridhar

If you failed to sell an idea to your boss, here are some reasons why.

Prepare well before selling your idea

THIS is not an article about bosses and their unwillingness to buy new ideas. On the contrary, this article is about how people pay very little attention to helping them buy new ideas.

In one of my recent workshops two people were vociferous about this issue. They kept harping on how `seniors' did not have an open mind and how nothing new will ever go through in their organisation. After a while, I realised that unless we tackled this issue head on, we could have a demotivated group.

"I am curious. Tell me why you think your seniors will never accept your new ideas?" I asked them.

"Because that is what has been happening in the last couple of meetings."

"What has been happening in the last couple of meetings?"

"They don't even allow us to finish our presentation."

"Why?"

"We run out of time and they have other meetings."

"Do they cut your time?"

"Not really."

"Then ... ?"

"Sometimes we overshoot our time limits."

"Why is that?"

"We don't know."

"How much time do you get?"

"Generally an hour."

"How many ideas do you try to present?"

"Quite a few."

"How many did you present last time?"

"37 ... "

"How many?"

"37."

"How many do you manage to discuss?"

"One, maybe two."

"What happens to those ... ?"

"They ask a lot of questions."

"Are you able to answer them?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"We did not think of such questions."

"Are they reasonable?"

"Most of them are."

"Then why are you not able to answer them?"

"Sometimes we lack the experience. Sometimes we do not have the necessary information."

"Interesting. Tell me, how do you prepare for these meetings?"

"Meaning ... ?"

"What all do you do to prepare for your presentations?"

"We create Powerpoint presentations."

"How?"

"We put our ideas on slides."

"What do you seek from them at these meetings?"

"We want them to accept the ideas."

"What happens then?"

"We have not thought about that."

It was by now evident to all of us as to why their `seniors' did not buy the new ideas from these two youngsters.

Very simply put, these people had not put in any work to make it easy for the other person to accept or approve or act on their ideas.

I remember a story that a former colleague told me a couple of years ago. Apparently she was part of a team that had thought about a completely new way to communicate to customers. However, they did not have the funds to experiment with the concept as they were part of a small business unit. This meant that they had to seek funds from the Managing Director. He was known to be a hard-nosed businessman willing to take risks. Convincing him, however, was not easy.

The first thing the team leader suggested was to put together a proposal. Once that was done the entire team brainstormed on why the MD would not sanction funds for the concept. The team leader knew the MD very well so he brought out a lot of interesting questions by putting himself in the MD's shoes. The others took the points of view of the other board members, including the finance director and an influential consultant who was an advisor to the board.

Now the team addressed each of the objections and strengthened the proposal by making suitable modifications to the original proposal. Subsequently they brought in a colleague from another business. Since he too knew the MD well they asked him to play MD when they made a rehearsal presentation. This was perhaps the best thing that the team leader had done. This colleague brought in new perspectives and raised some truly relevant issues.

It was disheartening but the group went back to thinking about the new points. Once they cracked 70 per cent of the new issues the team leader took a decision to make a final presentation to the MD.

He sought an appointment and the MD gave an hour for the meeting.

"What do we want from the MD?"

"Moral support."

"An experimental budget of Rs 10 lakhs"

"Ideas to improve the concept."

Finally the group focused on one single goal. Ask for a Rs 10-lakh budget. Just approval was not good enough.

The presentation went off better than what the group had expected. The MD not only bought the concept but also helped the group develop a much bigger vision. He sanctioned a higher budget and also gave them leads from their international offices. They could speak to experts from their offices and get help to refine the concept further.

The group was overwhelmed by his response. They were thrilled to hear about a comment he apparently made later. "I wish all our businesses make it easy for me to say yes! It is a pleasure to deal with such a thorough group."

I was reading a book, Generating Buy-In - Mastering the Language of Leadership, by Mark. S. Walton. Walton was CNN's former Chief White House Correspondent. He recommends a framework for buy-in. He suggests developing a strategic story to provide a framework for buy-in. Walton quotes Bill Stavropoulos of Dow Chemical Company who says, "It should be bigger than you, so that other people can see themselves in this story you are painting."

Walton says that the strategic story connects the dots between the future you want and the future your audience wants. He suggests a four-step methodology.